Sunday, October 18, 2009

In this episode I discuss how my experience after my first post-checkride flight caused me to reevaluate my mission, the type of flying that I would be doing. Also, because of the cost of this flight, I realized that I needed to figure out a way to cut costs so that I could afford to keep flying.

So after some soul searching, I came to realize that my mission would be VFR flights of short to medium range cross-countries by myself or with one other person. Now all I needed to do was to find a capable, inexepensive airplane, to support this.

This lead me to check out Light Sport Aircraft (LSA). After realizing that they were capable crosscountry aircraft and inexpensive to rent (burning 5 gph helps), I decided to get checked out in one. I am currently flying the Tecnam P92 Eaglet.

I also discuss that my friend Joe Rydzewski, looking to reign in the costs of trainging, has decided to finish up his Private Pilot license in the Eaglet.

Thanks for listening.

Blues skies everyone!

You can reach me at TheNewPilotPodBlog@gmail.com
Please send comments and suggestions.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Welcome everyone to Episode #01 of The New Pilot PodBlog - Goal Setting

In this episode I discuss my goals that I have laid out to make my flying more interesting, safe and fun. After my checkride I felt the need to give my flying more structure so that it would stay interesting. While searching the internet to get ideas on how I could use my certificate, I came across a great article, Leading Edge #1: After Your Checkride -- The Next 100 Hours by Thomas P. Turner.

In it Thomas discusses why you should set up goals to keep your interest in flying. He states that if pilots do not have goals, they tend to loose interest and stop flying. This was the article that I was looking for! Here was Thomas discussing my own concerns. I needed a reason to fly, besides the proverbial $100 hamburger and this gave me a starting point on how to structure my post-checkride flying.

I have also been interested in Scenario Based Training (SBT) and I am currently reading Arlynn McMahon's Train Like You Fly: Guide to Scenario-Based Training. Using Thomas' article, Arlynn's book and what I would like to get out of flying, I constructed by plan.

Each flight that I take will have a least one goal from the following three categories. Of course they will all have the goal of having fun. No sense flying if you don't have fun.

The categories are:

1) Reinforcement - This is where I reinforce the skills I learned in my training

get proficient in the PTS tasks in the Eaglet

plan and fly cross-country flights of different lengths, to familiar and unfamiliar airports. This will also build my time for future ratings and certificates.

practicing landings, no touch-and-goes, only taxi-back and take-off

simulated emergencies

2) Proficiency - This is where I hone my flying skills and really learn about my abilities

learn pitch/power/sight picture for all phases of flight

practice crosswind landings to get proficient in different wind speeds and directions

land at different size runways to really know which runway lengths and widths I am comfortable landing on

become proficient in the GPS and autopilot in the Eaglet or any new equipment

3) New Experience - This is where I have fun, develop new skills and become a better pilot

landing on grass strips

aerobatics/upset training

glider rating

tail-wheel endorsement

long cross-countries to the edge of the planes endurance

Class B operations, fly to a Class B airport. It would be awesome to land at JFK.

New certificates and ratings. I am currently studying for the Advanced Ground Instructor certificate and I am planning on getting the Certified Flight Instructor - Sport Pilot certificate

These are the goals I hope to accomplish. I am sure they will change over time as I consistently reevaluate what I want to get out of my certificate. It may take me 100 hours or 1000 hours, but one thing is certain, they will give me a reason to fly because it will be interesting.

In the next episode, I discuss my first flight as a private pilot and how it caused me to rethink and refocus how I would use my certificate.